The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for use by law enforcement officers and private security personnel in the field when they are called upon to engage a threat and, in doing so, they pull their handgun from its holster.
Law enforcement and security officers rarely have a need to draw their weapon from their holster. When they do, however, it is because they are facing a “crisis situation” that can pose a threat to their own, and/or to someone else's, life. Such a situation may escalate, or may already have escalated, to the point where they have a need to fire their weapon. It is important in these cases that the officer be provided with as much information as possible about the person or persons who are responsible for creating the threat; i.e., the perpetrator or perpetrators who have caused the crisis. In particular, it would be extremely helpful to know exactly who the perpetrator(s) is/are, and whether such person(s) has/have engaged in prior offenses or illegal activity.
In some cases, when the persons causing a crisis—for example, one or more persons who is/are threatening others with a gun—are near to, and not readily distinguishable from, other innocent individuals, it is important to identify the one(s) who is/are the perpetrator(s) and to determine their exact location, often within a public building.
The U.S. Pat. Nos. 9,140,509 and 9,217,616 teach an “evidence collecting and recording” system for transmitting live video to a central command station from a camera disposed on the muzzle of an officer's gun.
According to a preferred embodiment of the system disclosed in these patents, the evidence collecting apparatus on the gun comprises: (1) at least one sensor, such as a camera but also other types of sensors, for obtaining “gun-related data”; (2) a first digital logic device, coupled to the sensor or sensors, for receiving and forwarding the gun-related data; and (3) a wireless transmitter (“T”) device, coupled to the first logic device, for transmitting the gun-related data received from this logic device to a relay device of some sort.
As disclosed in these patents, the evidence collecting system also includes an electronic relay device, such as a smartphone, that comprises:
(1) a wireless receiver (“R”) device, for receiving the gun-related data from the T device;
(2) a wireless transmitting device for transmitting the received gun-related data to a remote central station via a wireless network; and
(3) a second digital logic device, coupled, to the R device for receiving and forwarding the gun-related data to the central station.
This evidence collecting and recording system advantageously further comprises a gun holster and a sensor device for determining when the gun is removed from the holster.
Advantageously too, the electronic relay device (e.g., a smartphone) includes a data memory, coupled to the second logic device, for recording the evidence received by transmission from the data collecting apparatus prior to uploading it to the central station.
According to a particular embodiment of the system disclosed in the aforementioned patents, the second logic device is programmed to automatically initiate a call for assistance. This may occur, for example, when the gun is removed from its holster, or when a shot is fired.
The gun is advantageously provided with one or more of the following evidence collecting sensors: (i) a holster sensor for sensing that the gun is removed from a holster; (ii) a video camera arranged to view forward in the direction of aim of the gun and/or in the direction of the holder of the gun; (iii) a microphone arranged to receive sounds in the vicinity of the gun; (iv) a direction finder for determining the azimuthal direction of aim of the gun; (v) a trigger-pull sensor, or other sensor device such as the microphone or an accelerometer, for sensing that the gun has been fired; and (vi) a level sensor for determining the angle of aim of the gun with respect to the vertical.
Advantageously too, the electronic relay device (e.g., the smartphone) is provided with one or more of the following evidence-collecting devices: (i) a clock for determining the time that the gun is removed from the holster and/or the time that the gun is fired; and (ii) a GPS for determining the location of the gun when it is removed from the holster and/or when it is fired.